“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary”. – Jim Rohn
Reading is a habit that has changed the lives of many. While every book that changes your life for better is a self-help book, we have compiled a list of 20 best picks. These are acclaimed and personally our favourite.
Whether your job is a joke, you are broke, you are stuck in second gear, it hasn’t been your day, month or even your year, then this article is for you. These books will be there for you. Here sharing 20 self-help books that’ll change your life for better and give you a positive lookout towards life.
1. The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho’s delightful novel is a treat for readers. The USP of the book is its simplicity & soul-stirring wisdom. The Alchemist is a story of a shepherd boy named Santiago from Andalusia who travels from his homeland to the Egyptian desert in search of a buried treasure. Along the way, he encounters many people and an Alchemist. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts. This is a story of following your dreams, reading the signs along with life’s paths & listening to your heart.
Buy it here: www.amazon.in/Alchemist-Paulo-Coelho
2. The 48 Laws of Power
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene is a classic. The book details the laws of attaining power in life, business and more. The book sprints out examples from the history of each law in power. The book teaches how people can use power for their own benefit & also how to protect yourself from certain abuses of power. Though all stories in the book gravitate around power, it also contains life lessons & historical anecdotes. From Caesar to Goethe, Sun-Tzu to Machiavelli, this eye-opening book spans a wide range of human development.
Buy it here: amazon.in/Laws-Power-Robert-Greene-Collection
3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Written by Stephen R. Covey in 1989, the book over the years has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. Covey presents an integrated, universal, principle-centred approach for solving personal & professional problems. Part shock-therapy, part ageless spiritual wisdom, the book is packed with wisdom that actually makes a difference. Covey presents his teachings in a series of 7 habits, progressing from dependence through independence on to interdependence. You will be forever changed by the powerful lessons contained in this book.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Habits-Highly-Effective-People
4. How to Win Friends & Influence People
How to win friends and influence people is a timeless self-help book written by Dale Carnegie. This is one of the best-selling books of all time and for all the right reasons. The book teaches you how to improve your social & communication skills that will make you more amiable as well as successful. The book gives a beautiful insight into how not to make people feel manipulated but rather appreciated & how to value them. It really is the only book that you need to be more successful.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People
5. Thinking, Fast and Slow
In the highly antedated Thinking Fast & Slow, Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman explains two systems that drive the way we think. In simple prose, he describes the fast & slow system of our thinking. While system 1 is fast & intuitive, System 2 is slow, deliberative and logical. He engages his readers in lively conversations and through them offer practical insight into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Thinking-Fast-Penguin-Press
6. Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
David Burns’ Feeling Good is about the science of cognitive therapy. The theory states that your emotions are caused by your thoughts, and most negative emotions are caused by distortions in your thoughts. This book can help you identify twisted thinking and then change it to something more realistic. If you want to know how CBT works, what thought patterns are causing you depression or you want to rise above self-doubt/ destructive thoughts, look no further. This book has truly helped many with depression and also those without depression. Loaded with exercises 7 examples, this is the self-improvement you need.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Feeling-GooD-New-Mood-Therapy
7. See You At The Top
See you at the Top by Zig Ziglar teaches you winning is not everything, it’s the effort to win that matters. Ziglar provides a realistic and sustainable framework on how to achieve success. His model of focusing on self-image, relationships, goals, attitude, work and desire (and how to improve each) allow you to focus on what is most important. Zig conveys his lessons in the form of short stories and personal experiences, all of which are easy to relate to and easy to identify with. The book is a good motivation to read. If you want to make a change in you’re life or just looking for that little inspiration, this book will provide it.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/See-You-Top-Zig-Ziglar
8. Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck? And Other Provocations
Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck? brings together the best of Seth Godin’s acclaimed blog and is a classic for fans both old and new. This is a compilation of his 6 most-entertaining & poignant blogs. From thoughts on how to treat your customers to telling stories and spreading ideas, Godin pushes us to think smarter, dream bigger, write better, and speak more honestly. This book is a true eye-opener to hundreds of great innovative thoughts and taking action on those thoughts. The next time when you feel stuck, unmotivated, and uninspired, remember that you have to begin a journey of self-discovery even if it is late, and to be honest it is never too late.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Whatcha-Gonna-That-Duck-Provocations
9. Outliers The Story of Success
Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers”–the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way, he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm
10. Think and Grow Rich
The mind cannot differentiate between truth and falsehood, we simply need to instruct or manipulate it toward a certain mode!’Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill, takes an in-depth look at the power of the mind and personal belief and how these influence our success. Hill uses examples of past success such as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and Thomas Edison to show how factors such as desire, the subconscious mind, faith and goals can interweave to create favourable condition for success. The author rekindles our ambition and urges us to dream bigger with a strong desire.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Think-Grow-Rich-Napoleon-Hill
11. Man’s Search for Meaning
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Based on his own experience and the stories of his patients, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. At the heart of his theory, known as logotherapy, is a conviction that the primary human drive is not pleasure but the pursuit of what we find meaningful.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl
12. Awaken The Giant Within
Wake up and take control of your life! From the bestselling author of Inner Strength, Unlimited Power, and MONEYMaster the Game, Anthony Robbins, the nation’s leader in the science of peak performance, shows you his most effective strategies and techniques for mastering your emotions, your body, your relationships, your finances, and your life. One of the best and most comprehensive personal development books out there. The central message is this: you have the power right now to control how you think, how you feel, and what you do. Everything you could ever want, tangible or not, is all within you.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Awaken-Giant-within-Immediate-Emotional
13. The Power of Positive Thinking
The precursor to The Secret, The Power of Positive Thinking has helped millions of men and women to achieve fulfilment in their lives. In this phenomenal bestseller, Dr Peale demonstrates the power of faith in action. With the practical techniques outlined in this book, you can energize your life — and give yourself the initiative needed to carry out your ambitions and hopes
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Power-Positive-Thinking-Norman-Vincent
14. Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
Eat that Frog by Brian Tracy is about time management and personal productivity. The book has 21 chapters and each of those chapters covers one specific tip on how to get more done, to stop procrastinating and use your time more wisely. The chapters are easily digestible, they all have actionable tips that you can apply to get better at your time management. You would love this book if you actually applied the exercises throughout the book, and re-read it again and again.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Eat-That-Frog-Great-Procrastinating
15. You Are a Badass
In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author and world-travelling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up 27 bite-sized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word. If you’re ready to make some serious changes around here, You Are a Badass will help you: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviours that stop you from getting what you want, blast past your fears so you can take big exciting risks, figure out how to make some damn money already, learn to love yourself and others, set big goals and reach them – it will basically show you how to create a life you totally love, and how to create it now.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/You-are-Badass-Doubting-Greatness
16. As a Man Thinketh
The mind guides our footsteps as we progress along the pathway of life. The purity of mind leads inevitably to the purity of life, to the precious love and understanding that should control our everyday acts and attitudes towards friends and foes. But where must one look for guidance? How does one achieve purity of mind that alone brings happiness and confidence? The author offers clear answers in this book As A Man Thinketh. His words have helped millions for more than a century–and they continue to point the true way to a better life for a troubled humanity. Too many mortals strive to improve only their wordly position–and too few seek spiritual betterment. Such is the problem James Allen faced in his own time. The ideas he found in his inner-most heart after great searching guided him as they will guide you.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/As-Man-Thinketh-James-Allen
17. The Magic of Thinking Big
The Magic of Thinking Big gives you useful methods, not empty promises. Dr Schwartz presents a carefully designed program for getting the most out of your job, your marriage and family life, and your community. He proves that you don’t need to be an intellectual or have innate talent to attain great success and satisfaction, but you do need to learn and understand the habit of thinking and behaving in ways that will get you there.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Magic-thinking-Big-David-Schwartz
18. Good Vibes, Good Life
Vex King’s masterpiece is incredible! The book is equal parts a personal growth book and a personal disruption book. It disrupts the way you see and accept the world by providing real and relatable stories, examples and situations. All while equipping you with the tools you need in order to better your current reality and in turn your life. This book is perfect whether you are new to personal development or if you’ve been doing it for years. With this book, Vex will show you that when you change the way you think, feel, speak and act, you begin to change the world.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Good-Vibes-Life-Self-love-Unlocking
19. The Road Less Traveled
The author has delved deep into, with profound insights, on what really causes unhappiness in our life. He asserts that it is precisely in avoiding our problems and hurdles that we suffer in our life; it is the pain and suffering caused by difficulties in life that we have to meet in order to grow mentally and spiritually. We cannot solve life’s problems except by solving them.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Road-Less-Travelled-Arrow-New-Age
20. The Power of Now
Eckhart Tolle’s message is simple: living in the now is the truest path to happiness and enlightenment. And while this message may not seem stunningly original or fresh, Tolle’s clear writing, supportive voice and enthusiasm make this an excellent manual for anyone who’s ever wondered what exactly “living in the now” means. Foremost, Tolle is a world-class teacher, able to explain complicated concepts in concrete language. More importantly, within a chapter of reading this book, readers are already holding the world in a different container–more conscious of how thoughts and emotions get in the way of their ability to live in genuine peace and happiness.
Buy it here: https://www.amazon.in/Power-Now-Guide-Spiritual-Enlightenment